Mahjong Rules - Chinese VersionMahjong had been developed from various Chinese games, which had provided it with sophisticated cultural pattern. Seating One of each of the four wind tiles are placed face-down, shuffled and each player takes one. Mahjong players seat themselves according to this draw in the clockwise order N - W - S - E. Notice that these are NOT the standard compass positions. East the prevailing wind and the key position since this mahjong player starts, scores double and pays double for the round. For the each subsequent round, the positions change in one of two ways: If East wind went out in the previous round, then the positions stay the same and the player who was East wind remains the same for another round; If one of the other winds went out in the previous round, the wind positions rotate in an anti-clockwise fashion so that the player who was South wind in the previous round becomes East wind. In a complete session of Mahjong, which might take a number of hours to complete, once each player has been East wind, South becomes the prevailing wind. Once South is finished, the prevailing wind becomes West and finally North. The session ends when each Mahjong player has played as the prevailing North wind. Obviously, it isn't necessary to complete a session - playing a set number of rounds or to a target score is just as good. Building the Wall The Flowers and Seasons are not normally used in the Chinese version of Mahjong game and these rules assume that they are not used. All the tiles are shuffled thoroughly face down by South and North in a ritual that is called "The twittering of the sparrows". Once done, each player takes 34 tiles and positions them in a wall, 2 tiles high and 17 tiles long. The tiles should have the long sides and be face down. Each wall should lie in front of each player running from left to right. The four walls are then pushed together to form a square symbolizing the Great Wall of China. It is important to ensure that the walls have no gaps and that they touch at the corners so that any lurking dragons or evil spirits are prevented from entering. Breaking the Wall Next, East throws the dice to decide who breaks the wall. East counts the number thrown, starting with East and working anti-clockwise. The mahjong player who sits where the count ends, throws the dice again and adds the total of both throws and then uses this total to count along his wall from right to left. Where the count ends, is where the player breaks the wall, which is done by removing the pair of tiles at that point and placing the top tile on top of the previous tile and the lower tile in a position two positions further anti-clockwise. These two tiles are called "loose tiles". So, by example, if East throws an 11, West will be the chosen player. If West throws the dice again and gets 9, the total thrown will be 20 in which case West will count along all 17 of the tile pairs in the West wall and then finish on the second pair of tiles in the South wall. West would then remove these two tiles and place the top one on the first (right-most) pair of tiles in the South wall. The lower tile would be placed on the 16th tile in West wall. The Deal Starting after the break (i.e. continuing in a clockwise direction around the wall), four Mahjong tiles are dealt to each player in turn starting with East and working anti-clockwise until each player has 12 tiles. Next, and continuing in the same direction around the wall, the first and third tiles on the top row are dealt to East, the first on the bottom row to South, the next tile on the top row to West and the next lower tile to North. That completes the deal. East finishes with fourteen tiles while the other players have thirteen tiles each. The Mahjong Game A player generally tries to collect sets of tiles. The 3 basic sets are as follows: A Pung - a set of 3 identical tiles (e.g. 3 x Red Dragons, 3 x Two circles) A Kong - a set of 4 identical tiles (e.g. 4 x Eight of Bamboos or 4 x North Winds) A Chow - a run of 3 tiles in the same suit. A Chow does not score and so is only helpful because it can contribute to a hand that allows a player to call Mahjong. The primary aim of the game is to collect such tiles that allow a player to call "Mahjong" and go out. In order to do this, a player must achieve one of the following: -A pair, and 4 Pungs, Kongs or Chows - A special hand However, the overall aim of the game is to amass a greater score than one's opponents and it should be remembered that it is possible to do this over a series of rounds without ever calling Mahjong. The Mahjong Play The first turn, is made by East who discards one tile by placing it face-up inside the remainder of the wall. Each subsequent turn is made by a player taking a tile, optionally playing a tile combination and then discarding a tile. However, which player takes the turn and from where the tile is taken, varies. After each discard, any player who has 2 or 3 tiles that match the discarded tile may take the next turn by calling Mahjong, Pung or Kong. Such a player, takes the discard and plays the resulting Pung or Kong on the table in front of him or, in the case of Mahjong, takes the discard and declares all tiles in hand, thus finishing the game. If no player calls Mahjong, Pung or Kong, then the player to the right of the player who just discarded takes the next turn. This player may, if he has 2 tiles that can be matched with the discarded tile to form a Chow, call a Chow. The player must then take the discard and play the resulting Chow. If a Mahjong, Pung, Kong or a Chow has not been called, then the next player in an anti-clockwise direction simply takes a tile from the open end of the wall. If possible and desired, he can then declare a make a Pung, Kong or Chow by laying the combination face down in front of him. The player always finishes a turn by discarding one tile, placing it face-up inside the remainder of the wall. Whenever a Kong is declared, the player must lay all the tiles forming the Kong on the table and immediately take a tile from the Kong Box. A declared Pung can be converted into a Kong but only using a tile taken from the wall. A Kong can only be made using a discarded tile, if the other three tiles are in hand (concealed). Tiles that have been discarded, unless they are picked up in the following turn, are dead tiles and take no further part in the game. Finishing If all the tiles from the wall are drawn, except for whatever remains of the 14 tiles of Kong Box, then the game is declared a draw and no scores are made. The tiles are shuffled again and game is restarted with the same player as East wind. Once a player has reached the point where a player needs one more tile go out, that player declares "one for Mahjong". This alerts the other players to be more careful with their discards and the player in question is said to be "calling" or "fishing". A player who takes a tile from the wall that makes a completed Mahjong hand, declares Mahjong and lays down all tiles. Any player who can form a finished Mahjong hand with the tile just discarded can call Mahjong, take the discarded tile and go out. It can happen that one player can call Mahjong with the discarded tile and another can call Pung or Kong with the discarded tile. In this case the player with Mahjong takes precedence. It can also happen that more than one player can make Mahjong with the discarded tile. In this case, the player nearest the right of the player who discarded, wins the dispute, takes the tile and goes Mahjong. A player cannot declare a Kong and make Mahjong because a replacement tile must always be taken when declaring a Kong. A player cannot declare Mahjong and then discard a tile. In the case where a player takes a tile from the wall and plays it on an already exposed Pung to form a Kong, if another player can use that tile to go out, this player can "Rob the Kong" in order to go Mahjong. The player simply takes the tile just played and uses it to play a set of his own tiles to go out. Robbing the Kong is only allowed on exposed Kongs with one exception - a player can Rob a hidden Kong in order to complete the "Thirteen Unique Wonders" special hand. Special Hands Special hands are alternative target sets of tiles that a player can go Mahjong with. The original Chinese game allowed only a few special hands but some Western derivatives controversially include many more.
Scoring Since a score can become ridiculously large, a limit is usually applied. In England, the limit is usually 2000 points although tournament limits tend to be 1000 points. Scoring can be complicated. If a player went Mah Jong with a special hand or a player was calling on a special hand at Mah Jong, the scores in the Special Hand table apply. Otherwise, the value of each hand is calculated, bonus points are added and, if appropriate, any doubling then takes place. The value of each hand is calculated as per the following two tables:
Once the basic scores have been evaluated, each player's score is doubled for each item in the following table:
Finally, there are some additional doubles that apply to the hand that went Mah Jong only.
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